The year 2009 has been one of change, success, expansion and financial stability in the future for the Roxby Districts Cricket Association.
A new president in Allan Woolford after three years by Gerard “Yogi” Secker and the re-admission of Andamooka to the competition heralded the start of the 2009/10 competition.
Season 2008/09 ended with the closest grand final in the 21-season history of the association when Olympic Dam narrowly defeated Wanderers by five runs in a nail-biting finish.
Other highlights for the latter part of the past season included a win in the the country carnival, an inter-association match against Mount Maurice under lights at Woomera and the trophy presentation at O’Donoghue Oval’s sports club.
The country carnival win in February was achieved by a combination of the guidance of vice-president Graham Warren and the players determination to make the one week trip to Adelaide worthwhile.
The success was made sweeter by the fact that the side defeated carnival luminaries in Rocky River, Barossa and Light, and Penola to win the coveted Chris Hartwig Challenge Shield.
Congratulations to Charl Botes who was a worthy selection in the team of the carnival and for Graham Warren who came a very narrow fourth place in the organiser’s award.
It must also be said that the players took charge of their destiny and reaped the rewards of a very meritorious win and set the scene for defending their title in the week of February 15-19 in 2010.
Mount Maurice visited in January for an encounter under lights at Woomera which saw the match end dramatically with controversy over the final score and the game being declared a draw.
Despite the drama a rematch on January 23 in the New Year at the same venue is keenly awaited by both sides.
The trophy presentation dinner in March at the sports club was hosted by the Woomera Redbacks club in fine style as the evening incorporated the carnival success into the normal proceedings of the season trophy presentations.
Randall “Rags” Wyatt was deservedly named Cricketer of the Year as players from all clubs joined in the festivities.
Andamooka Cricket Club was a founding member of the association in 1988 but they unfortunately folded after a few seasons and combined with fellow foundation club Roxby Downs to form the short lived Lake Torrens.
An application to be re-admitted was unanimously passed at the annual general meeting in August making it five teams competing for the Roxby Club Premiership Shield in 2009/10.
Apart from the presidency changing hands at the AGM, Craig Wilson took over from Andrew Wellington as treasurer and Peter Steer was installed as junior cricket coordinator following the relinquishing of the position by Darren Eckermann.
Graham Warren continues as vice-president, Damien Smith as secretary and Jason Carroll as statistician.
The new regime has garnered substantial sponsorship from several local businesses which will stand the association in good stead as big changes in sporting facilities are forecast when the master plan of the mine expansion is implemented.
BHP Billiton, Heading Contractors, Bianco, York, Downer EDI Engineering and 300K Enterprises are the businesses that have come forward so far to support cricket.
In November the association held a celebrity Twenty/20 match at Roxby Downs on a Friday evening which was a huge success on several fronts.
The match was preceded by coaching clinics held by special guests Darren “Boof” Lehmann and Jason “Dizzy” Gillespie who then captained the two participating sides.
Boof’s team won the contest and several thousand dollars was raised for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the large crowd enjoyed the community atmosphere of the evening as much as the game itself.
BHP Billiton is to be commended for its tremendous support of the event.
As the association goes into recess for the Christmas break, Olympic Dam leads the table just ahead of Wanderers with Roxby Rogues in third place leaving the Woomera Redbacks and Andamooka to fight it out for the fourth and final spot in the major round.
On a final note the Roxby Districts Cricket Association has adopted “The Wedgies” as a name and red, blue and yellow as official colours.
It also has a website www.roxbydistrictscricket.com.
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